European Parliament and Foreign Governments Investigate U.S. Surveillance of SWIFT

Following the June 22, 2006 media revelations of Bush administration surveillance of Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) wire transfer records, the European Parliament (EP) is demanding disclosures from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the 25 EU members about their knowledge of U.S. surveillance. The SWIFT surveillance program works in parallel with previously uncovered surveillance of international telephone calls, faxes and e-mails by the National Security Agency, which has conducted warrantless eavesdropping on more than 5,000 Americans with suspected links to terrorism. The program also complements the FBI’s use of “national security letters” to obtain communications and banking records. The secret NSA and Treasury programs have developed unprecedented government databases on private transactions, most involving people who prove irrelevant to terrorism investigators.